DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 4-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ikuhito JPH10221013A (citation is from the machine English translation attached herewith) in view of Prince et al. US 2021/0199587 and Zhang et al. US 2021/0254968.
Regarding claim 1, Ikuhito teaches an automatic focusing system (see abstract and title: focus detection for optical instruments), comprising
an illumination system (as shown in Figs. 1 and 2: B1 and B2 are two projection optical systems for patter 1 (P1) and pattern 2 (P2)), a characteristic signal generation system (plates 10 and 20), an objective lens (objective lens 2), an imaging system (observation optical system);
wherein the illumination system is configured to generate two illumination beams directed toward the characteristic signal generation system (Figs 1-2: teaches two independent pattern projection optical systems B1 and B2, each with its own illumination path and pattern plate);
the characteristic signal generation system comprises two transparent gratings with regular periods (Figs 1-2: discloses projection plates 10, 20 for the first and second patterns, and Figs 3-4: depicts regular line patterns (P1, P2) which are functionally grating (periodic transparent/opaque structures) see also para: 0010-0014);
the two illumination beams respectively pass through the two transparent gratings to form two transparent grating image beams (see Figs 1-2 and para 0008-0012: each illumination beam passes through its own pattern projection plate 10, 20 and images toward the object via objective lens 2, to form P1 and P2), the two transparent grating image beams passing are directed to the objective lens at different angles, and the two transparent grating image beams after passing through the objective lens interfere on an object surface to form a moiré fringe image (Fig. 5 and para 0015-0016: shows individual pattern P1 and P2 combined to form patter P3 (overlapped P1 and P2) i.e., P3 is equivalent to the interference pattern of P1 and P2 which is moire fringe image);
the imaging system is configured to capture the moiré fringe image (Fig. 1: depicts observation optical system A images the object and the composite pattern P3), Ikuhito further teaches as the object moves in the Z direction, the composite pattern shifts, and focus states is determined by the direction and amount of pattern displacement (see para 0015-0018).
Ikuhito fails to teach: a total internal reflection (TIR) prism for routing the beams, an imaging system that captures the fringe image,
the processor is configured to determine a defocus direction of the automatic focusing system and a defocus amount of the automatic focusing system according to a position of the moiré fringe image captured by the imaging system and further to determine an adjustment amount of a position of the objective lens according to the defocus direction and the defocus amount.
Ikuhito and Prince are related with respect to autofocus optical system.
Prince teaches autofocus optical system (see para 0003), wherein a prism element is used to generate and route two illumination beams (para 0006: “system further comprises a lateral displacement prism, the lateral displacement prism forming left autofocus light and right autofocus light that diverge at a predetermined angle from each other”), similarly Prince also uses the use of reflective beam splitter to provide two separate beam light due to total internal reflection (see para 0076). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the focus detection system of Ikuhito to include a TIR prism as taught by Prince in order to route the two structured illumination beams at controlled angles into the objective lens, and also it would have been motivated to do so because prism-based beam routing provides compact optical system.
The combination of Ikuhito and Prince fails to teach: the processor is configured to determine a defocus direction of the automatic focusing system and a defocus amount of the automatic focusing system according to a position of the moiré fringe image captured by the imaging system and further to determine an adjustment amount of a position of the objective lens according to the defocus direction and the defocus amount.
In the same field of endeavor, Zhang teaches projector that projects fringe patterns onto an object (see para 0007: “projecting, with the projector, structured light onto the at least one object to generate fringe patterns on a surface of the at least one object”), imaging system (camera) that captures images including fringe patterns (para 0007: “capturing, with the camera operated with the optimal value for the focal length setting of the camera, a first image of the surface of the at least one object that includes the fringe patterns on the surface of the at least one object”), and processor configured to analyze captures fringe pattern images and determine focus (see para 0007: “determining, with a processor, an optimal value for a focal length setting of the camera for capturing in-focus images of the at least one object with the camera”). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further modify the system resulting from the combination of Ikuhito and Prince to include the imaging system and processor of Zhang to merely automates the known focus detection mechanism of Ikuhito using a well-established image processing techniques, yielding predictable results.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Ikuhito teaches the automatic focusing system of claim 1, Zhang further teaches further comprising an execution system; wherein the processor is configured to generate an adjustment command according to the adjustment amount and send the adjustment command to the execution system; and the execution system is configured to adjust the position of the objective lens according to the adjustment command (see at least para 0007: teaches “capturing, with the camera operated with the optimal value for the focal length setting of the camera, a first image of the surface of the at least one object that includes the fringe patterns on the surface of the at least one object”, and para 0036 further teaches: “computer 100 is advantageously configured to automatically detect optimal focal length settings for the target objects 60 and perform digital fringe projection based reconstruction of the 3D profile of the target objects 60 using the detected optimal focal length settings”, and para 0046: further teach actuator as a means of execution system to physically adjusting the optical element of the optical system).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Ikuhito teaches the automatic focusing system of claim 1, Ikuhito teaches further comprising a fourth reflector (9) and a dichroic mirror (see para 0010: semi-transmissive mirror 3 is equivalent to dichroic mirror); wherein after being reflected by the fourth reflector (9) and the dichroic mirror (3) in turn, the transparent grating image beams (10 and 20) are directed to the objective lens (2).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Ikuhito teaches the automatic focusing system of claim 4, except for wherein the dichroic mirror is a beam splitter or a dichroscope with a light splitting ratio of 50/50. Although Ikuhito does not expressly disclose a beam splitter having a 50/50 splitting ratio, selecting a particular light-splitting ration represents a routine matter of optical design. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to configure the beam splitter or dichroic mirror to have a 50/50 splitting ratio, because such a ratio is commonly used to balance optical power between two paths (e.g., illumination and imaging) in optical systems absent a teaching that a different ratio is critical.
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Ikuhito teaches the automatic focusing system of claim 4, further comprising a first beam splitter (9), wherein the imaging system comprises a first tube lens (2) and a first camera; after passing through the TIR prism, the first beam splitter and the first tube lens in turn, the two transparent grating image beams are directed to the fourth reflector, and after passing through the objective lens, the dichroic mirror, the fourth reflector, and the first beam splitter in turn.
The combination of Ikuhito fails to teach the moiré fringe image generated on the object surface is incident on a photosensitive surface of the first camera.
In the same field of endeavor, Zhang teaches projector that projects fringe patterns onto an object (see para 0007: “projecting, with the projector, structured light onto the at least one object to generate fringe patterns on a surface of the at least one object”), imaging system (camera) that captures images including fringe patterns (para 0007: “capturing, with the camera operated with the optimal value for the focal length setting of the camera, a first image of the surface of the at least one object that includes the fringe patterns on the surface of the at least one object”). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the lens optical system of Ikuhito by utilizing the claimed camera as taught by Zhang in order to capture the object image.
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Ikuhito teaches the automatic focusing system of claim 4, Ikuhito teaches further comprising an imaging light source (13 and 23), a second beam splitter (9), a second tube lens (8); wherein a light beam emitted by the imaging light source (13 and 23) is reflected by the second beam splitter (9) and directed to the dichroic mirror (3); the dichroic mirror is configured to perform spectroscopic processing on the illumination beams and direct the illumination beams to the objective lens (2), the illumination beams passing through the objective lens (2) is projected on the object surface for illuminating an object (1) to be detected on the object surface.
The combination of Ikushito fails to teach: a second camera and the object to be detected reflects the illumination beams to form a reflected light, and the reflected light converges to the second camera after passing through the objective lens, the dichroic mirror, the second beam splitter and the second tube lens in turn.
In the same field of endeavor, Zhang teaches projector that projects fringe patterns onto an object (see para 0007: “projecting, with the projector, structured light onto the at least one object to generate fringe patterns on a surface of the at least one object”), imaging system (camera) that captures images including fringe patterns (para 0007: “capturing, with the camera operated with the optimal value for the focal length setting of the camera, a first image of the surface of the at least one object that includes the fringe patterns on the surface of the at least one object”). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the lens optical system of Ikuhito by utilizing the claimed camera as taught by Zhang in order to capture the object image.
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Ikuhito teaches the automatic focusing system of claim 7, except for wherein a splitting ratio of the second beam splitter is 50/50. Although Ikuhito does not expressly disclose a beam splitter having a 50/50 splitting ratio, selecting a particular light-splitting ration represents a routine matter of optical design. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to configure the beam splitter or dichroic mirror to have a 50/50 splitting ratio, because such a ratio is commonly used to balance optical power between two paths (e.g., illumination and imaging) in optical systems absent a teaching that a different ratio is critical.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ikuhito, Prince and Zhang as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Poris US Patent No. 6,657,216
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Ikuhito teaches the automatic focusing system of claim 1, and Ikuhito further teaches wherein: the illumination system comprises an illumination source (Fig. 1: light source 13 and 23), an illumination lens (11 and 21), a first reflector (9), a second reflector (9) and a third reflector (3); after a light beam emitted by the illumination source (13 and 23) passes through the illumination lens (11 and 21), a part of the light beam is reflected by the first reflector and the second reflector in turn to form an illumination beam directed to one of the transparent gratings (10 and 20), while the other part of the light beam is reflected by the third reflector to form another illumination beam directed to the other transparent grating.
The combination of Ikuhito fails to teach: an aperture of each illumination beam is less than or equal to half of an aperture of the objective lens.
Poris teaches imaging device, wherein an aperture of each illumination beam is less than or equal to half of an aperture of the objective lens (see col. 10 lines 42-52: “One beam could be expanded to fill the input aperture of the objective lens resulting in a minimum spot size, while the second beam could be made much smaller than the objective lens input aperture with the second beam expander to produce a larger spot size. A beam expander right before objective lens 132 would allow the use of smaller optical components since the beam would be smaller for most of the optical path. Beam expanders preceding beamsplitter 118 would require larger optics for all of the components in the optical path following this beamsplitter.”) Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the optical system of Ikuhito by utilizing the claimed aperture size of the beam and lens as taught by Poris to improve collimation of the beam.
Conclusion
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/EPHREM Z MEBRAHTU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872